PH20 On-line Water Toxicity Monitoring
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Thursday
(PH231) Routine gene expression profiling of environmental samples: adding biological realism to chemical monitoring.
Blust, R1, Dardenne, F1, Naudts, B2, Cocker, D3, De Coen, W1, 1 Laboratory For Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium2 Intelligent Systems Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium3 ECOTRAC, Edegem, Belgium
ABSTRACT- Routine environmental monitoring has until now mainly been focussing on the chemical analysis of various matrices (water, sediment, soil, biota). The evaluation of environmental risks arising from such pollution is generally a theoretical exercise, allowing little precise information on the actual toxicological events that can be evoked by exposure to such pollution load. Routine (eco)toxicological assessment has long been hampered by the non-specific nature of most ecotoxicological assays, which are mostly based on mortality as an endpoint. With the advent of molecular biological techniques, however, sublethal effects at the transcriptional level can be easily measured using transgenic cells. In the present study, we explore the power of bacterial and human transgenic cell systems for environmental monitoring purposes. Results show that these types of bioassays are good descriptors of the toxicological mode of action of pollution and are useful in ranking and identifying hazardous hot spots. Examples will be given for different sources of aquatic and atmospheric pollution. By running this methodology on a routine platform, such in vitro assays can be used as early warning systems and become an important tool in enhancing our understanding of the environmental impact of wastes on receiving ecosystems and humans. Furthermore environmental liability and tracebility of discharges can be improved by the highly informative and specific nature of these toxicological assays.
Key words: biomonitoring, transgenic cells, impact assessment